Thursday, February 7, 2013

[WSJ] "...WASHINGTON—A proposal to arm Syrian rebels was backed by the Pentagon, the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency, but the White House decided not to act on the plan,....The disclosures thrust a spotlight on the extent to which Mr. Obama charts his own course in the face of calls to action by members of his own team, and on the extent of his caution about entering a new conflict.?."The disclosures thrust a spotlight on the extent to which Mr. Obama charts his own course in the face of calls to action by members of his own team, and on the extent of his caution about entering a new conflict.?."Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Marine Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Mr. Obama's top military adviser, revealed publicly for the first time at a Senate hearing on Thursday that they supported a proposal last year by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and then-CIA director Gen.David Petraeus.The White House stalled the proposal because of lingering questions about which rebels could be trusted with the arms, whether the transfers would make a difference in the campaign to remove Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and whether the weapons would add to the suffering, U.S. officials said..."